Willing to Love
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”
Today’s Text: 1 John 4:13-21 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I don’t know if Duranno purposefully started out 2026 in 1 John, but I’m pretty sure they are simply on a cycle of about 8-9 years going through a Bible reading schedule. Whether it is coincidental or intentional, I cannot think of a more important reminder for the church and for the believer to start off a new year.
The Apostle John gets to the very heart of what it means to have faith in Jesus with his black-and-white rhetoric. To have faith in Jesus Christ means that we “live in love.” It is only when we live in love that God lives in us.
And to live in love is to be like Jesus in this world—in other words, to love sacrificially, as Jesus did, especially toward those who do not deserve it.
And so the phrase that describes the crucial aspect of what it means to live in love is “among us.” Living in love is a communal activity—and to be precise, a church activity.
We find another crucial word in verse 21—”must”:
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Here in Canvas, if we love one another sacrificially, especially when the “others” don’t deserve it, we will be able to confidently stand before our Lord when He comes.
I do not understand why we assume that we can treat one another in the church so marginally, and even poorly, and expect that Jesus is totally OK with that. More and more, I am convinced that one of the main reasons that the church is at the heart of God’s great plan of salvation for the world is to teach us how to love one another, because we will expected to love one another in heaven. The church is integral to our sanctification.
Do we suppose that we will have no free will in heaven? Do we expect that we will all be like AI bots who are programmed to automatically love one another in heaven, even though we may have disliked one another here on the earth?
I don’t think so. In fact, I wonder: If a believer finds it difficult (or “impossible”) to love a particular brother or sister, perhaps those two will find themselves to be roommates in heaven.
Love is a skill that needs to be developed. Love is a matter of the will, a will that is directed by faith.
Father, Out of Your love, the universe was created. Out of Your love, You have even dealt with sin. Your love overcomes all sin. Forgive us for promoting sin instead of promoting Your love. Thank You for Your word concerning Your love to start the new year. Sanctify us with Your love and for Your love. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
